Mechanism for picking and separating cotton from foreign material



May 22, T928. L. E. WIRTH I MECHANISM FOR PICKING AND SEPARATING COTTON FROM FOREIGN MATERIAL V I Filed July 28, 1924 4,5heets-Sheet 1 ZEK ZQ WM *1 W I May 22, 1928.

L. E. WIRTH MECHANISM FOR PICKING AND SEPARATING COTTON FROM FOREIGN MATERIAL Filed July- 28, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 VIII/II n 4 W/T/VEsSSEvS L. E. WlRTH MECHANISM FOR PICKING AND SEPARATING COTTON FROM FOREIGN MATERIAL 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 28, 1924 -adE /NVENTOR.

May 22,1928. 1,670,674 y L. E. WIRTH MECHANISM FOR PICKING AND SEPARATING COTTON FROM FOREIGN MATERIAL Filed July 28, 1924 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 row, on the b Patented Ma 22, 1928; v

1 UNITED STATES Louis E. wmmn, on rrrmsnunen, iENNSYLVANIA, assrsxon 'ro PATENT OFFICE.

mumin HANAUEB 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

Application filed July 28,

The invention described herein relates to certain improvements in mechanism for picking cotton, of the ty e or kind in which currents of air are emp oyed for removing the lint from the boll and for eifectingaseparation of hulls, leaves, pieces thereof, etc., from the lint prior to the latters being compacted or filled, whereby such foreign mat ter will become so incorporated with the lint that the fibres must be torn apart to remove the foreign material. The invention is hereinafter more fully described and claimed. I

In the accompanying drawings forming a part. ofthis specification, Fig. 1 is a side elements claimed herein; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the elements of the mechanism for segre atngv the foreign material from.

the lint; ig. 3 is a sectional plan view on a plane indicated by the line I'IL-III, Fig. 2, only a portionof the icking cylinder being shown (in section; ig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating connections from the pump to the lint deliver box and Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view silowin connections from the main drive shaft to e pump,.separating rolls and wheels of the machine.

In the practice of the invention a pump 1 of an suitable construction is connected by a con uit 2 to the front end of a shell or casing 3 and preferably at a point adjacent the bottom, and the pump is so operated as to maintain a suita le vacuum in the casing.

A plurality ofnozzles 4 are connected-to the top of the casing adjacent the front end thereof and to the outer ends of these nozzles are connected sections of hose 5 provided at their outer ends with nozzles through which, when placed adjacent to a boll, the lint will be drawn by reason of the vacuum in the casing. The streams of air containing the gathers will be directed, by the nozzles against the inclined baflie 6 which extends across the casing and, has its upper edge forming a tight joint with the to of the casing. :POItlQIlS of the streams o air carrying the lint will be deflected forwardly across a throat or o ening 7 between the lower edge of the be e 6 and a baflieS extending down from the top of the casing in a direction approximately parallel with the baflle 6. Portions of the air carrying the lint will impin e, as indicated by thears the baflle 8 and other portions of the air will vation of'a machine embodying the improvee 6 and be deflected towards 1924. serial 110. 728,804.

flow more oi less directly through the throat,

as indicated, intersecting the lines of flow tow ards the throat as indicated by the arrow 6, intersecting the streams of air deflected from the baflie 6. As portions of the air impinging on the -baflie 6 may move.

down along the baflle, and throu h the throat 7, without beingsubjected to '51 arating actiondue to intersectingstreams, as abovedescribed, a deflecting ledge 9 is esep arranged transversely of the baflie'6, whereby any of the streams of air not deflected from the bafile, as described, but flowing down along this baflle, will be deflected upwardly to intersect the streams of the an indicated by thearrow 6. As the gethers of lint. are open, 1. e., not in any way compactedi1 and the air will move more rapidl than t e gathers, the air will pass throug the open gathers and dislodge pieces of leaves, etc, lightl adhering to the fibres composing the get ers. I

From the chamber or space between, the

bafiles (r and 8, the air and lintpass down so through the throat 7. onto the grid 10 con sistlng of spaced but closel adjacent )IOdi under rearwardly under a such a downward inc ination that thelint and any foreign material; too large toass between, the rods from the rid, will Side ying the throat 7 T is grid extends ick-uproll and has.

down the latter. A baflie 11 1s arranged intermediate the grid .and the point "of 0011-,

motion of-the exhaust conduit 2 and extends from the front of the casing in a down--- ward direction nearly to the ttom of the as shown in Fig. 2. B reason of casin this iaflle, the air passing t roughthe throat will flow rearwardly along the grid ensuring the movement of the lint along the grid and under the pick-up roll. As air after assing through the throat could have a ten ency to hug the grid, and not exert sufiicient force to pull the pieces of leaves, etc. away, from the lint resting on the grid and between the bars forming the grid, 0 rforations are formed through the b n 11 in line with the direction of flow of air through the throat. This short circuit for a portion of the air will ensure a stron flow of air through the grid and the detac ment of small pieces of foreign material from the lint resting on the grid.-. The pick-u roll -12 is provided on its P riphery w: teeth so constructed as to engage lint slid- "the lint. 4

' A further" segregatlon'ofthe foreign ma- I ing along the grid 10. The roll and giid are arranged in such relation that the teeth Wlll engage the gathers, and the roll is retated so that its periphery will move in a direction the reverse of that of the lint.

along the grid. As shown in Fig. 2, the lower ends of the rods forming the grid are supported by abar'lO extending acros'sthe casin 'The'ends of this bar rest on adjusta 1e lugs whereby the distance of-the grid from the pick-up roll can be changed.

y the rotation-of the roll, the lint will be lifted from the grid and during its initial movement from the grid will 'be subjected to currents ofair flowing parallel with the 'grid' whereby foreign material still adherent'or mingled with the lint will be segregated from the latter, and will continue along the latter and drop ofi into the cur rent got a111,.flOWlIlg around the end of the baffle 11 and be carried towards the ex- 2 haust conduit. In order to prevent the escape of foreign material into-the conduit 2, a 4

. bafile 13 is so arranged in front of the end 'ofthe conduit as to cause an eddyingofthe air, thus affording opportunity for the formaterial'to settle down into a recepta-- cle 14 from which it can be removed through a discharge opening 15 from time to time. 4

- The lintis carried along by the roll .12 for a suitable distance and is detached from the teeth of said roll by a rotating brush 16 driven in the reverse direction to that of the roll-12 and the roll-and brush and a id 17 are so arranged that thelint when gr from the 'roll 12 will drop onto A baflle 18 iscarranged in suchsmelled the relation to the rollthatcurrentsof air will flow down between the-roll and rotating brush and through the grid 17 and thence under the bafiie 11 to the exhaust conduit. There will .not be any compactin ofthe gathers as they are carried aroun by .the

roll 12 and swept therefrom by the-brush 16 ;'on the contrary, the action of the roll and brush and the current of air passing. between will tend to open up thegathers so that when eon the grid the currents oi air will flow t ough the lint and effect eV the gatherslod further removal of foreign material from terial from the lint is eflectedby a-toothed i roll 19 similarinconstruction to the roll'12- and so mounted in the casing relative" to the (1-17 which is similar in construction to.

' the grid 10, that the teeth of the son 19 I will pick the liiit slidingdown the grid and carry it to a point-where it will be swept by a rotating of the roll: and ,de

down betweenthe roll-12 and brush" 16 and three lithe grid 17,. The roll-is. be located that Elie current will be "tangentielltogthe brush 21 from, the-teeth osited in a chamber20. As before stated, t ere-will be afld'w'of airthe walls to-maintain a vacuum in the chamber 20, there will not beany material current 1n the chamber, and the lint will drop into pockets 23 in the rotatable drum 23*.

This drum rotates between concave curtain walls 241:0 prevent the admission of air into the chamber 20, exce t such small quantities as may be containe in the pockets. The

.lint drops from the brushinto the pockets,

23 andis carried thereby into a; chamber '25. In order to remove the lint-from the chamher 25, the discharge. port 26" of the exhaust pump is connected toa c'onduit26 arranged below and transversely of the pump, and from this conduit at points on opposite sides of the discharge port, extend pipes 27 which are connected to a passage 28 located in front of the ,box or chamber 25, said-passagz having its rear wall perforated to permit 0 air to enter the box or chamber, as shown in v Fig. 4. These jets of airwill sweesishe lint from the chamber out through a port or opening 29. As only a portion of the air discharged from he pump is required forremoving the lint from the box charge or chamber 25, the ends of the conduit 26 are'open and in orderto divert air into the pipes 27 leading'tothe' box and chamber, bafiles 30 are arranged in the conduit'intermediate the open ends of the latter and the points of connection of the pipes 27 there-- with. These bellies extend across the conduitdistances proportional to the quantities of air required to remove lint from the'box or chamber 25.

The-casing 3 and vacuum pump 1 are so mountedon the chassis of an automobile.

that: the motor of thelatter may-beutilized for operatingtheum and the plck-up rolls and brushes m t e casing. As the pump, rolls, and rushes should perated high 1 and su antially uniform rates, while the rate of movement of the automobile should beat a rate approximatel that of aslow walk, so as to a 0rd the la orers time to move the: gathering nozzles from- -boll to'boll,'the several parts, 1. e.,'the drive wheels of the automobile, the pum and the pick-up rolls-andabrushes have in ependent connections tothe shaft of the motor. In a v the construction: of 'transmittmg -dev1ces shown in Fi 4, which have been found'suitable, the she 3lf rom' the motor is connect 4 ed through a transmission mechanism ofanyv suitable construction (indicated at 32) to a shaft 33 adapted to be connected by beveled inions 34 to a shaft 35 arranged transverse y of the chassis and having pinions 36 keyed thereon, said pinions, intermeshin with an internally toothed ring37 secure to the rear wheels 38. The shaft 40 of the,

pump is driven by a chain 41 passing around a sprocket wheel on the motor shaft 31 at a point between the motor and the transmission mechanism as shown in Figs. 1 I

and 5, so thatby adjusting the transmission mechanismthe rate of movement of the ma chine can be varied without varying the rate of.opera tion of the pump. For operating the rollsand brushes in thecasing, a gear wheel. 42 driven by the motor shaft 31 intermeshes with a pinion on the stub shaft 43 by which a countershaft 44 is driyen through a chain 45. This shaft extends rearwardly of the machine and is operative- 1y connected through beveled pinions 46 to a shaft 47 arranged transversely of the chassis. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the ends of the several shafts 12, 16, 19" and 21 of the rolls l2and l9 and brushes 16 and 21 extend beyond the sides ofv the casingw On' these extended 'ends and the ends of the shaft 47 are secured pulleys for the sewers-l -,he1ts whereby the rolls and bruhses" may be driven by the shaft 479 The drum 23 is driven" from the shaft 47 by a belt 48.

I claim herein as my invention: 1. Apparatus for separating foreign material from raw cotton comprising a casing having a receiving chamber, a piclcup roll,

a a grid arranged transversely of the outlet y from said chamber and extending under the pick-up'roll, avacuum pump connected to.v the casing and a baflie interposed between id and the outlet to the vacuum pump;

the the Mile being so extended that currents of Y air. will flow along the grid and carry. lint into position, to be caughtbythe' roll. a

2. Apparatus for separating foreign ma! terial fromraw cotton comprising a casm gyhaving'a receivin chamber, a' pick-up, ro

r a downwardly inc ined grid arranged trans versel of the-outlet fromsaid chamber and exten ing under the pick-up roll, avacuum pump connected to the casing at alpoint be low the grid," and a baflie interposed between the grid and theoutlet to the vacuum pump; and extending rearwardly bey nd the pickup roll.

3. Apparatus for separating. foreign -ma terial from raw cotton comprising a casin' having a receiving chamber, a pick-up ro arranged in .the rear of said chamber, a downwardly inclined grid arranged below said chamber and extending across the out-.

let from the chamber and under the ick-up roll, a bafile arranged under the gri transversely of the direction of flow of the currents of -air flowing from the receiving chamber and extending rearwardly beyond the pick-up'roll, a vacuum pump connected to the casing below said Vbaflie and a second baflle extending upwardly across the outlet to the vacuum pump.

'4. Apparatus for separating foreign material y from raw cotton com-prisinga casing having a receiving chamber, a pair' of pickup rolls, one roll being arranged in the rear of the receiving chamber and the second roll in the rear of and below the first roll, re-

volving brushes for removing lint from the pick-up rolls, a downwardly inclined grid arranged to receive lint from the receiving chamber and direct it to position to be caught by the first pick-up roll and a second grid arranged toreceive lint fromthe first roll and direct it to position to be caught by the second roll, a vacuum pump so connected to the casing that it will cause currents of air to flow through said grid, a

downwardly inclined bafileinterposed between the first grid and the outlet to the vacuum pump, and means arrangedin such relation to the first pick-up roll as to preover the top of the first roll.

5. Apparatus for separating foreign material from raw cotton comprising a casing having a receiving chamber, a pair of pickup rolls, oneroll being arranged in the rear vent currents of air from flowing forwardly of the receiving chamber and the second roll I in the rear of the first roll and below the first roll, revolving brushes for removing *grids, a downwardly inclined bafiie interposed between the first grid and the outlet tinto the'vacuum pump}, and means arranged e in such relation-to t first pickup roll as to prevent'c'urrents of air from flowing forwardly over the top of the first roll, a lint receiving chamber enclosing the revolving brush ofv the' second roll, and walls arrange in such relation to the second pick-up roll as to prevent such a flow of air from the lint receiving chamberinto the casing.

6. Apparatus for separating foreign material from raw cotton comprising a casing,

means arranged in the casing for effecting the separation of foreign material fromthe lint, a. vacuum pump soconnected to the casing as to cause currents of air to flow through the casing and in such directions withinthe casing as to bring the lint inf': operative relation to the separating meanin the casing, a lint receiving chamber hav-v ing an outlet, a secondchamber, a rotatable drum having pockets for transferring lint from said receiving chamber into the Second chamber, and apipe extending from the outlet of the pump to said fsecondchamber.

casing astq cause currents of 'air to flow in such directions within the tag, lighting the lint into operativerelation to to Separating means in' the casing; a lint r ceivingl chamber having an outlet, at sjeqondchamber, a' rotatable drum-having pockets for trans-i ferring lint from said receiving chamber into the second chamber and. means for con ductingfan air blast tosaid second chamber. 2

In testimony whereof,I have hereunto set my hand. a

Louis E wIR'rH. a 

